Solder is a commonly produced as alloy of tin and lead. It melts around 300 degrees and is applied with a soldering gun to seams to fasten materials together including metal parts. It adheres to a variety of metals including silver, copper, and lead. Electronic circuits use solder to attach the individual components to a printed copper pattern on the circuit board. Plumbers use solder to seal copper pipes together. Likewise, metal construction workers use solder to seal and attach together metal plates.
Copper shingles are a durable, cost-effective method of roofing. Copper is also frequently used for the construction of bay windows. Individual copper pieces must be soldered together using traditional solders for sealing and joining the pieces. After liquefied solder hardens, it retains a gun metal gray color. However, a copper roof panel retains a brown color for approximately 70% of its usable life. Many owners are dissatisfied by the resulting and starkly contrasting difference in color between new copper roof panels and the gray solder seams.
There has long been a need in the copper roofing and copper plate industry for a process to inexpensively and to easily add a coloring agent to solder substrate that is applied to surfaces subject to ambient weather conditions. While many patinas exist to impart a copper tone onto non-copper, metal plate substrates, patinas are ineffective for permanently and easily coloring solder.